Encouraging 

 the Birds 



Feeding her 

 young. Where 

 hosts of insects 

 go 



THE GARDENER'S PARTNERSHIP 

 WITH NATURE'S HOSTS FOR THE 

 FIGHT AGAINST INSECTS. — PLANTING 

 TO ATTRACT THESE ALLIES 



ALICE LOUNSBERRY 



BIRDS are the pampered darlings 

 of the hour. From being so in- 

 differently treated by mankind that 

 they fled before his footsteps, they 

 have become the most catered to and 

 sought after creatures of the open. Over the 

 whole country sanctuaries for 

 the feathered world are steadily 

 increasing in numbers; while 

 alone in the vicinity of New 

 York City three of notable pro- 

 portions have been established 

 recently. Smaller and more 

 simple bird gardens have as 

 well become a reigning inter- 

 est. 



The farmer who a few years 

 ago watched, with surly humor, 

 the birds feeding in his grain 

 fields, nipping holes in the sides 

 of his largest cherries, feasting 

 royally in his strawberry patch, 

 is now, through increased knowl- 

 edge, content to share with them 

 the products of his labors. He 

 has learned that his one-time 

 use of a shotgun and his un- 

 gainly scare-crows were merely 

 effectual in driving away the 

 helpers with which Dame Nature 

 had provided him. For as the 

 birds flew off to less man-gov- 

 erned places the insects began 

 to flourish unhindered, driving 

 sleep and prosperity away from 

 whole agricultural districts. To- 

 day it is believed that a single 

 martin will consume, as his daily 

 diet, a mdlion mosquitoes; nest- 

 ing boxes therefore are hung up 

 for his occupancy. In fact bird 

 protection in various forms is 

 pursued for ethical and artistic 

 reasons as well as for its com- 

 mercial benefits. 



Not all those interested in the 

 preservation of native bird life, 

 however, can set aside ten acres 

 or thereabouts for the building 

 of an important sanctuary, al- 

 though it fortunately happens 

 that the greater number of coun- 

 try dwellers are able to add to 

 their possessions a bird garden. 



From the beginning fashion 

 has played its part in gardens, 

 no less in America than in other 

 countries. The bird garden, the 

 latest desideratum, has followed 



perhaps in the wake of the naturalistic gar- 

 den to which many landscapes have an 

 especial suitability. Yet so new is the con- 

 ception of such an enclosure that the question 

 is frequently asked: "What is a bird garden; 

 in just what way can it be built?" 



Berried shrubs that provide food for the birds are also gratifying objects in the garden in winter 



(Viburnum opulus) 



153 



A BIRD garden, whether so large as to 

 •^■^ be called a sanctuary or so small as to 

 be merely a shelterwood, is an enclosed place 

 in which birds are protected from their ene- 

 mies; provided with food throughout the 

 year; and wherein those that nest in the open 

 and those that nest in holes are 

 given opportunities for breed- 

 ing. 



Of course before starting a 

 bird garden the character of the 

 land must be closely studied; a 

 swampy thicket would require 

 different treatment from a hilly 

 district or from one composed of 

 flat meadows. The birds of 

 each locality must be observed, 

 also it must be learned which 

 others are likely to be at- 

 tracted, once the chosen site is 

 made attractive to them. Birds 

 long absent from a neighbor- 

 hood will find their way back 

 shortly after conditions that 

 make their lives comfortable 

 have been provided. 



But no thought of a sanctuary 

 or bird garden should be enter- 

 tained unless there is complete 

 willingness to protect its inhabi- 

 tants from their enemies, and in 

 the personalities of household 

 cats are found their most im- 

 placable foes. Weasels, rats, and 

 martens also disturb nesting 

 birds, but their influence is slight 

 in comparison with that of the 

 cat which prowls by night and 

 by day insatiable in his desire. 

 Traps that are set for such should 

 in every case be well hidden; 

 barbed wire is also used in va- 

 rious ways as a menace and 

 hindrance to his movements. 

 Still neither of these devices is 

 equal to the determination of a 

 nine-lived cat. 



Necessity therefore has led to 

 the invention of a cat-proof 

 fence. It is made of wire mesh 

 having a hooded arrangement 

 at the top and so shaped that 

 should the cat climb sufficiently 

 high and attempt to leap over, 

 he would be thrown back to 

 the ground. To enclose a bird 

 garden with such a fence is the 

 first important step in its build- 

 ing. 



